releve Virginia Division of Natural Heritage, see http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/documents/nh_plotform_instructions.pdf
Overall Taxon Cover Values are Automatically Calculated?
no
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Tree Height
26
m
Shrub Height
3
m
Field Height
1
m
Nonvascular Cover
15
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
Directions to plot and tree tag:
Plot location was pre-selected by the project's stratified random sampling design.
From MP along BRP miles north of Bald Mountain Overlook, proceed down ravine to plot. Plot is ~ 0.3 km from shoulder of parkway. Follow intermittent stream/talus strewn slope directly to the plot. Tag tree is 3m west/upslope of stream and tag faces the stream. Tree leans toward stream. Tagged tree is a Betula lenta of 45 cm with tag # 306. Conduit is a bearing of 60 degrees and 1 m from this tree.
Stand of Tsuga canadensis, Acer spp., Rhododendron catawbiense, and Laportea canadensis in a narrow, cobble-strewn streambed and alluvial floodplain. Tsuga within plot has almost entirely succumbed to hemlock wooly adelgid, and Acer pensylvanicum and Acer rubrum have responded favorably to consequent canopy openings. Stream is entirely dry at time of sampling, but debris flows and abundant cobbles indicate intermittent flooding. Depth of litter, however, reveals no flooding since the end of the previous growing season, and seedlings of Acer spp. suggest an even longer period since the last inundation. Community may more appropriately be considered an upland rather than occasionally palustrine. Banks on either side are steep, and there is no terrace or abandoned floodplain. Elevation is probably too low for Betula alleghaniensis and soil too nutrient-poor for other nutrient demanding taxa characteristic of similar sheltered, mesic sites (e.g., Aconitum, Deparia, Cimicifuga, etc.).
Several overstory Tsuga canadensis have been killed by hemlock wooly adelgid. Stand located along intermittent stream that may receive bank full flow only once every several years.